RAW PEARL – Planners hope this burned building on Pearl Street will not be demolished and replaced by parking.

Planners want to buff up link between historic Hyannis sites

All roads, it seems, lead to downtown Hyannis – but where do you go once you’re there?

The town and its consultants, who are working to create three overlapping walking trails in the area and nearby, held a public meeting on the proposed Kennedy Legacy Trail Feb. 28.

“Pearl Street is the geographic center of the new Hyannis Arts district,” said landscape architect Kate [CORRECTED]Kennen, who ran the meeting. It could serve as a conduit from the JFK Hyannis Museum past galleries, shops, and the Hyannis Arts campus to a trail leading on to Kennedy-related sites such as St. Francis Xavier Church, the former Hyannis Armory, and perhaps down Ocean Street to the JFK Memorial.

But Pearl Street as it exists is no Hyannis Walkway to the Sea. It’s a tight little block that doesn’t even have sidewalks all the way down both sides of the road, and the sidewalks that are there are narrow.

“There’s poor and inconsistent lighting for pedestrians,” Kennen said. What’s more, the buildings at the “gateway” to the street are a restaurant under construction and the original campus of Sturgis Charter Public School, neither of which suggests the arts and retail uses farther down Pearl.

Kennen said this week’s meeting was an opportunity to hear the public’s ideas, but she put a few options on the table to start the discussion. These included sidewalk markings that would help extend to Pearl Street the experience of walking on Main Street, and lighting improvements such as replacing the “cobra-head” lamps on Pearl with the more attractive Renaissance style deployed recently on Bearse’s Way. Low-maintenance roses and beach grasses would create a better looking landscape, Kennan said.

Bill Cronin, president of the Greater Hyannis Civic Association, agreed that there was “no incentive” for strollers to walk down Pearl Street. He suggested negotiating with Sturgis to use its wall space for photographic displays such as those in the former Hibbel Museum at the corner of Ocean and Main streets.

Elimination of telephone poles was suggested, but town planners said the expense was way outside the project’s funding.

A concern for all was the Captain Bearse House, a historic structure damaged extensively in a recent fire. The owners have requested a demolition permit.

“I’d hate to see Sturgis buy it and make it another parking lot,” Cronin said.

Elizabeth Jenkins, a principal planner with the town’s growth management department, said she’s been in touch with the owners, who want to “retain and redevelop” the property if zoning allows.

Janet Preston, executive director of the Cape Cod Maritime Museum, asked that the proposed Kennedy Trail not bypass her venue, especially given the family’s love of the sea and the interest of some members in the museum.

Kennen said grant funds will allow the town to put up Kennedy Trail signs by June 30, and that funding for street improvements will come through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. She said another public meeting will likely be held in three to four months.